Liberals see no hope until money and politics are separated through legislation providing public financing of elections.
But the idea of providing public financing for state elections has little support among Republicans, who now hold a narrow majority in the State Senate.
The solution was the innovative option of providing public financing to presidential campaigns as a means of curbing the influence of big money donors like those who ran amok in President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election.
Such legislation would include banning soft money, drastically lowering the state's campaign contribution limits, beefing up disclosure and enforcement and providing public financing that would allow average New Yorkers to run for office.
Today, under the state's new law providing public financing for statewide campaigns, Mr. Pollina announced that he had just qualified for nearly $300,000 in state money, more than the incumbent Democratic governor, Howard Dean, will get.
We may not be able to shut off the spigot of money into the system, but by providing public financing we can increase public participation and ensure that deserving candidates, not only rich and well-connected ones, have an opportunity to run and compete for elected office.
